OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to an article, titled 'Non-profit urges board to keep police out of Simcoe County schools', published March 3.
I read with interest (and some consternation) your recent article about the issue of limited police presence or interaction with schools in the local communities.
Many parents and even students believe this is not a good decision. I also read your previous article from 2023 where you showed how students, some staff and many parents would like to see the return of some police presence in our schools.
I, for one, think this is a good idea, as I believe it to be important that our children develop some appreciation of the concepts of responsibility and law and order.
It is disturbing that some group like Policing-Free Schools can even exist, let alone attempt to drive their misguided interests at our schools and our children.
We must stand up for the right of the parents, school boards, teachers and students to express their own views on the presence of police in the schools.
Our children are our most precious legacy, and when young, they require the positive direction of their parents first, and secondarily, their schools and community. As they age and mature, they are increasingly able to discern and choose their own paths.
As a baby boomer, I and my generation grew up with discipline in the home and school, respect for others, and an appreciation of the role and value of the police.
We grew up with “Elmer the Safety Elephant” – a program of education, awareness and safety for children in all environments, but mainly for road safety.
This kind of program has been long gone, but with it, the spirit or notion that police and the community could regularly and positively interact.
Sadly, as we are now in a highly polarized world, the police have been demonized, and their main value reduced to mob control and traffic control.
I, for one, do not believe that the police have always comported themselves properly, but they have been pushed into a we vs. them situation. We need to open our minds, and our schools to more meaningful and responsible dialogue involving all parties for the direct benefit of the children.
Ed Leonard
Collingwood
